Alerces

Finally, we reached the Southernmost clump of the Alerces trees in the world.
Alerce, also called Lahuen are the second most tallest and also the second most oldest trees in the world after the Sequoias. The wood of the trees is water repellent and hence was used in the boats (Dalca, Wampo - Mapuche names for the boats) of the pre Columbian people. The wood was also used as a packing layer in the roofs again because of its waterproof property.
The wood has a reddish texture and these very old trees grow at less than 1 mm every year. Sometimes 2 of the Alerces growing near other can merge into one common tree. They still have separate roots, a common trunk but separate branches towards the top. Since they grow less than 1 mm a year, the merger might take hundreds of years.Leggi altro